


I Will Cross the World to Save You!

by Shadowpalkia99



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Action, Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Based off of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Eventual Smut, F/M, Tarot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-24 01:21:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14344992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowpalkia99/pseuds/Shadowpalkia99
Summary: After Izumo was taken by the Illuminati, Rin encounters an organization called Tarot who are tasked with taking out the Illuminati. So Rin and a few members of Tarot travel the world in search of Michael's new lab and save Izumo!





	1. The Journey Begins

Rin woke up in his bed with a startle, the memories slowly coming back to him. That's right. He was chasing down Shima and Izumo when Mephisto stopped him because apparently, they're too weak to take on the Illuminati. He then began to chase down the helicopter out of rage, but then Yukio knocked him out. Rin looked to see Yukio at his desk doing paper work.

"Yukio! What happened? Was that all a dream? Is Izumo safe? What about Shima?" Rin asked his twin brother, all Yukio just stared at him. Rin's eyes, slowly grew in realization.

"Listen Rin, I know you have good intentions. Trust me, I'd do the same if I were in your position." Rin looked at Yukio in confusion. Wondering what would come out of his mouth next. "But Izumo and the Illuminati have nothing to do with us, so stop talking about it." He shuffled the papers, lining them up neatly before heading out of the room; Rin gave chase.

"What the hell do you mean 'nothing to do with us'? She's one of your students, if anything you have the greatest reason to go after her than anyone in the True Cross Order." Rin shouted at him.

Yukio kept walking, ignoring what Rin had to say to him. That's when Rin shouted something that would surely get his attention.

"Shiro would have saved her!" Yukio stopped in his tracks and turned his head towards Rin.

Rin got a feeling of hostility from Yukio. It made him shudder. "Of course, you would pull the Father Fujimoto card." Yukio spoke, then left. Leaving Rin just standing there in utter shock of his brother.

A few minutes later, Rin retreated into his room and laid on his bed. Kuro then came up to him to try and provide comfort. Rin simply patted his head in response. ' _If only I could do something for Izumo._ ' He thought to himself.

~~~|X|~~~

It had been about 4 weeks since Shima took Izumo away. Rin had been depressed constantly and he didn't know why? Was it because of betrayal from Shima? Or maybe it was because Izumo was the first one to accept him for his identity and now she's gone. He honestly couldn't think straight. That was until someone threw a piece of chalk at his face. "Snap out of it Rin!" Ryuji shouted, obviously hinting that he was the one who threw the chalk.

Rin rubbed his head, trying to remember what he was doing. As he looked around, he saw that he was in the cram school classroom with his classmates Ryuji, Konekomaru, and Shiemi. They haven't seen Nemu since the attack at the festival. He was probably recovering his wounds from his battle with Shima. "Mr. Okumura told us to do this study hall while he was on his mission." Ryuji told him. Rin then sighed put his hand to his chin, he couldn't focus on his studies because Izumo was on his mind.

Wait. Izumo was on his mind? Why was Izumo on his mind? He never gave a crap about Izumo until the festival. Rin banged his head on the desk so violently that it shocked his classmates.

"I'm sorry, I just need to get something to eat, I'll be right back." Rin got out of his seat and left the class room.

As Rin headed across one of the bridges to get to the shop, he started to grumble about, what else, Mephisto. "Stupid clown, and his stupid hat, and his stupid- ARGH!" Rin flailed about trying to think of more insults for Mephisto, to no avail.

He opened the door to the shop and walked inside. It was quite barren, which was surprising; especially for a blistering hot day like this. The only people who were in the building were the nice lady behind the desk, waiting to take his order. And a man holding a newspaper that was in English apparently. Rin didn't take note of it and proceeded forward to the counter.

"Oh! Hello Rin, what can I get for you today?" The lady asked with a beaming smile on her face. "Wait, don't tell me… Another ice cream?" Rin nodded in response. Ever since the incident, he became a frequent customer to this place. So the employees knew him by heart. The lady sighed "I know it's kind of a clichéd way to cope, but if you eat too much ice cream, you'll get fat! Oh well, One ice cream coming right up!"

Just as she turned around to start making the ice cream, the man holding the newspaper raised his hand and called for her. "Excuse me, miss? Get me an ice cream as well." He had a smooth British accent to his voice, the kind that could make a woman instantly pregnant if she heard it. Both Rin and the lady at the counter turned towards the man, who had lowered his newspaper to reveal that he had short, messy, brown hair, large framed glasses, and wore a lab coat over a business suit. "And make mine cherry."

"Um… Yessir!" The lady instantly began working, as if she was under his spell. Rin could feel it, because he couldn't take his eyes off him. He then waved to him to get Rin to sit down next to him. Which he obliged.

"So, may I ask who my new friend is?" Rin gave a confused look. They just met, the hell did he mean by new friend?

"I'm not supposed to give my name to strangers." Rin told the man who looked disappointed. Just before he was able to retort, the woman brought them their ice cream.

"Ah! You prefer your ice cream in a shape of a popsicle. No?" Rin nodded at him. Then looked at the clock on the wall to see what time it was.

"Oh shoot! I'm late!" Rin shot up from his chair, grabbed his ice cream and left the man in the dust.

The man just sat their twiddling his thumbs. Then made a call on his HTC smart phone. "It's me, have you found the other target?"

" **Yes sir! In fact, he was actually fine with the idea** _._ "

"Good, I'll get the other one with us, and then well be on our way." The man then ended the call and looked at the direction Rin ran off to. "Once we meet again, maybe we won't be strangers to each other. Rin Okumura."

~~~|X|~~~

Rin opened the door to the classroom, panting with seat, to see that his classmates Shiemi, Konekomaru, and Ryuji were all still studying. "I'm back!" He told them. Shiemi stood up in excitement and waved to him telling him to sit next to her, which brightened up his day.

"Are you ready to get back to studying Rin?" Konekomaru asked as Rin sat down. He gave a nod with a beaming smile on his face as he pulled out his ice cream. Unfortunately, people wouldn't see that smile on his face for a long time.

"You know that looks quite delicious Rin." All four of the students froze in place as they heard a familiar voice. One that they thought they'd never hear again. "Mind if you share it with me?"

I was Renzo Shima. Now dressed in the Illuminati uniform, standing in the back of the classroom.

The four got up from their chairs and stood facing towards the intruder.

"Come on now, what's with the hostility guys? Weren't we all friends?" Shima asked walking on the classroom desks. Rin quickly went for the cover of the Kurikara and prepared to pull it out to confront Shima.

"You figuratively stabbed us in the back and literally in Izumo's!" Ryuji shouted at his old friend. "Why the hell are you even here?"

Shima jumped off one of the desks, with little recoil when he landed. "Well, I'd thought that I'd like to give you all a little message from one of my commanders. Essentially, what it said is that any attempt to retrieve Izumo Kamiki will be an utter failure."

"W-what?" Shiemi asked, confused as the rest of her classmates.

Shima simply rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment, a gesture they all remember about him. "Sorry that it doesn't make sense. It took me a while to figure out what it meant." Shima then started to make his way out of the classroom. "Anyway, my ride's waiting. I'll see you guys, maybe never!"

Just before he touched the door, Rin stopped him. "You think a simple message will stop us?" Shima looked back at his old friend. "Then you don't know anything about us. Once we graduate, well become the strongest Exorcists this world has ever seen! Then we'll destroy the entirety of the Illuminati and save Izumo!" Rin's classmates nodded their heads in agreement and smiled.

Shima gave a simple smirk. "Oh, well allow me to dispel that Optimism." Shima then snapped his fingers and the entire ceiling was blasted open. As the four True Cross students used their arms to shield the light from their eyes, they saw a familiar figure. It was a female wearing a kimono miko with a floral designed haori coat and a mask that looks like a fox, with the bottom of it removed so they wearer could move their mouth easier. The oddest thing about her were her white fox ears and nine white fox tails, but the one thing that got Rin's attention. Was that the woman had long, flowing, purple hair.

"Could it be? Izumo?" Rin said to himself. He stepped forward to get a closer look, but then the female pulled out two closed fans from her sleeves and dropped down into the classroom. Her speed was insane! Rin couldn't keep up! Just as she touched the ground, She dashed behind Rin to stand in front of his classmates.

She met face to face with each of them for only about a second. Then dashed away with her back facing towards them. She then stretched out her arms to her side and opened her fans. And suddenly all three of them collapsed on the ground, passed out.

"W-what just happened?" Rin was flabbergasted, it went by so fast that he couldn't tell what happened.

"What do you think?" Shima said. Rin couldn't look in his direction in utter shock. He then got up on the desks and walked over to where the woman was. "It's a new invention made by us. Essentially, it's a mask that controls the mind. Even though it's a prototype, it works really well. I'm not a fan of it myself, but anything to get Izumo onto our side." That last quote pretty much assured Rin that the woman was Izumo.

"Anyway, it's time for us to go. See ya Rin!" Shima got right next to the mind controlled Izumo. She began to spin around, causing light particles around the two of them and having them suddenly vanish.

Rin was left in the ruined classroom with his unconscious friends on the ground. Rin's was so shocked he didn't know what to do. The only thing that was on his mind was just to leave.

~~~|X|~~~

Rin had traveled a while across the campus and went to his dorm. But instead of going inside, he went behind the building. Rin felt like he was worthless. He couldn't save Izumo, and now she's been brainwashed by the Illuminati. And it's because of this worthless, that Rin started to cry.

He began to bawl his eyes out. He slammed his fists against the back wall of the dorm in frustration; not caring about the damage being done to the skeletal frame of his hand. After a few swings at the wall, he then turned around and slouched next to it and curled into a ball. This was what he was reduced to, a sniveling wreck. If Satan could see him, he'd laugh his ass off.

He had been crying for a few minutes now, until he heard a set of footsteps get closer to him and then suddenly stopped. He paused his crying for a moment to look up. He saw the man at the shop from before, holding out a cherry ice cream. Rin, despite the only thing he knew about this man was that he likes cherry ice cream, took it; he thought it could cheer him up. The man then sat down next to him and sucked on the frozen treat.

The man then removed the ice cream from his mouth, creating a popping noise as he looked at Rin and said "Aren't you gonna tell me why you were crying?" Rin looked at the man then he looked away as he took another lick at his popsicle.

' _Why not tell him, it's not like he can do anything to help me._ ' Rin thought to himself before he started to speak.

"Well first off, my name is Rin Okumura. Sorry I didn't tell you back at the shop." The man nodded in response as Rin continued. "A few weeks ago one of my classmates, a girl named Izumo Kamiki, was kidnapped and I just now realized that, I can't do anything to help her." The man just stared at Rin and adjusted his position to get more comfortable.

"I give you my condolences." He then patted Rin on the back for support. "I know it's not my place to ask, but. Who kidnapped her?" He asked, not being courteous in his invasion.

"Promise you won't laugh?" Rin asked in response. The man gave a raised eyebrow trying to understand what he meant by it.

"It's a kidnapping, how can I laugh?" Rin sighed in relief, and then spoke.

"Izumo Kamiki was kidnapped by the Illuminati." The man's eyes shot wide open and turned to face Rin.

"Did you say the Illuminati?" Rin nodded in response. The man, after a few seconds, started to chuckle which lead to a full hearty laugh. Rin felt ashamed. Of course this man was laughing, the Illuminati is a stupid theory! "Well then you're in luck, Rin!" Rin gave a confused look at the man.

The man reached inside his lab coat to pull out an ID Card. "Rin Okumura, I must apologize for not informing you when we first met. My name is Joseph Oswell. I command an organization known as Tarot, named after the twenty-two major arcana of a tarot card deck. Our sole purpose is to defeat the Illuminati and erase its existence from human history. And I want you to join us. If that Izumo girl was kidnapped by the Illuminati, then our goals are intertwined." Joseph extended his hand. "What do you say?"

Rin didn't even need to think about it. "I'll join you." Joseph looked surprised.

"Really? You don't want to have time to think about it?" Rin then stood up in response to Joseph.

"I can't just stay here and let a friend of mine get tortured by an evil organization and be powerless to stop them because of my superiors." Rin then grasped Joseph's hand and gave it a good shake. A smirk appeared on Joseph's face.

"Great, get yourself packed, I'll be in front waiting for you." The lab coat wearing man then left behind the building as Rin dashed passed him to get to the front door of his dorm.

~~~|X|~~~

Rin flew open the door to his dorm room, scaring Kuro from his sleep. He then grabbed a duffel bag and started to put clothes into said bag. Kuro just stared at him with wide eyes.

"Kuro, sorry for waking you up." Rin said as he got out a backpack and inserted several items in it. Such as several volumes of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders, and a picture of him, Yukio, and Shiro when he was young. "Listen, I'm going to be gone for a while, maybe even forever. So I want you to take care of yourself okay?" Kuro made a face to say that he was disapproving of Rin's words. He then headbutted his master. Like the way Rin headbutted him to knock him out of his senses.

" _Rin, I want to come with you! I don't care where you go, I'll always follow you!_ " Rin gave his Cait Sith a smile as he let Kuro get up on his shoulders, zipped up his bags, and headed out.

Once Rin was outside, he met up with Joseph again as they headed to their rendezvous point. On one of True Cross Academy's bridges. There they saw an albino man in a brown hoodie and camo jeans, smoking a cigarette, and was carrying a black briefcase with a dial that you would find on a safe with the numbers zero through twenty-one.

"Ah, there you are  ** _Judgement_**!" Joseph said as the white-haired man looked to their direction. "Have you notified our other companion that we're leaving now?"

The man defined as  ** _Judgement_**  blew out a puff of smoke and said "I had  ** _Magician_**  do that." He then handed Joseph the black briefcase and then looked at Rin. "Is this guy  ** _The Fool_**?" He said.

"What you call me!?" Rin shouted as he grabbed the Kurikara in anger.  ** _Judgement_**  just stared at Rin with an annoyed look on his face. But before a fight could break out between them, Joseph stepped in to explain.

"Oh yeah, that's right! Rin, I've got my eye on you for quite a while. You've been chosen as Tarot's ' ** _The Fool_** ' Card. Its meaning is beginnings." Joseph said. Just as Rin was taking all the information in, they heard the running of footsteps toward them.

The person had black skin and was wearing a simple t-shirt and sweat pants with earrings that look like the symbol of infinity. "Hey guys, I'm back!"

"About damn time. Did you get him?"  ** _Judgement_**  asked as he put out his cigarette. Rin could only assume that the new person was  ** _The Magician_**.

"Yup! And here he is now!"  ** _Magician_**  moved out of the way so Rin could see who they were referring to. And what he saw utterly surprised him.

"Nemu!?" He shouted. "What are you doing here?" The current members of Tarot turned towards him.

"So you know him? Interesting." Joseph said as he began to ponder. "Any way, the man known as Nemu Takara has been chosen as Tarot's ' ** _The Moon_** ' Card. Which represents the unknown."

Rin nodded in understanding why he was chosen as  ** _The Moon_**. ' _He is quite the enigma_ '.

As the group walked towards a nearby road with a very large car parked next to the sidewalk. Joseph began to lay down the rules for the group. "Now listen you two. When we are on missions, you are to address me as boss, and to address your colleagues as their Tarot card. Do you understand?" Rin and Nemu gave a resounding nod. As the group walked up to the car.

"Alright, let's go!"

And thus, Rin's Quest to defeat the Illuminati and save Izumo had begun.


	2. First Encounter Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin and the group arrive at the Tokyo airport to discuss their situation. However, before they can take off, there's a road block that needs to be removed

"I can't believe your fifteen and have just NOW gotten a passport."  ** _J_** ** _udgement_**  said as Joseph and Rin stepped out of the passport registration office.

Rin couldn't help but look annoyed at his companion. "Well, being cooped up in a monastery your whole life means that you don't get to travel a lot, in japan. Let alone outside of the country."  ** _Judgement_**  gave a simple shrug as he opened the car door for Joseph and Rin.

"By the way, I put that sword of yours in your suitcase. Don't want you getting caught by security." The albino man said as he started to drive the car to the airport. The drive was mostly quiet except for a conversation between  ** _Judgement_**  and  ** _Magician_**. Rin remembers them saying the word Ginger Ale a lot. But then something started to rack Rin's brain, so he decided to ask Joseph about it.

"Hey boss, I have a question. How did you choose me and Nemu-" Rin paused to correct himself "Oh sorry,  ** _Moon_** , as members of Tarot?" Joseph looked at Rin in surprise.

"That's a good question,  ** _Fool_**. And your answer lies in this case." Joseph put the case on his lap with the dial side facing up and then turned the dial to the number zero tick mark, then pressed down on the top of the dial. This caused the briefcase to open up revealing a single syringe with a white liquid inside of it.

"This is, what I call, an arcana serum. It's a brain amplification liquid that improves the injector's cleverness and ability to make quick decision. But also grants them a special power that is unique to their card. Only one person in the world is allowed to take the serum without having deadly side effects. i.e. If anyone but the chosen user injects it, they die." Joseph stated. "Now to answer your question, watch." He then flipped over the briefcase and placed the syringe on the bottom side of it. Making sure that it was pointing towards the front of the car. And then slowly, the needle end turned towards Rin.

"I'm not sure how, but these syringes point in the direction of the one who the serum has chosen, almost if they have consciousness." Rin nodded in understanding, but then his eyes shot open in surprise of what he said.

"Wait, you don't know? But didn't you create them?" Rin asked, making  ** _Magician_**  look back at the three in the back. Rin's recent question gripped the edge of the briefcase tightly.

"I didn't make them, my college professor did. But then the Illuminati killed him and took one of the serums. I then took the rest of the serums and set out to find the chosen of these serums, and defeat the Illuminati." Joseph inserted the syringe back into the briefcase and then put it away.

Rin was just about to ask him which serum they stole, but then  ** _Judgement_**  interrupted them. "Hey _**Fool**_ , you're gonna want to put that cat in some sort of crate once we get to the airport." Rin's eyes shot wide open.

"Wait, you can see Kuro!?"  _ **Judgement**_  gave Rin a confused look. Not understanding what he meant.

"Shouldn't I?"  ** _Magician_**  looked back at Rin quite confused. "Why shouldn't we see it?" Rin then preceded to explain about temptaints and what they cause. "Never got one."  ** _Judgement_**  replied calmly with Magician agreeing with him. Rin was flabbergasted.

"Interesting." Joseph said "So the serums can allow the injector to see demons. Well, you learn something new everyday.

"Well, I guess we don't have to worry about the cat unless one of the other passengers has a temptaint."  ** _Judgement_**  said as he pulled up to the airport and got out their bags. Though they were about a few blocks away from the front door.

"Why did you have to park over here,  ** _Judgement_**?" Magician complained as Judgement took a puff from his cigarette.

"Quit whining, the airport's already crowded. Let's just go." Everyone picked up their bags and headed off towards the airport.

~~~|X|~~~

The members of the Grigori flipped through the profiles of the Tarot members. Studying each one carefully.

"Are you sure that these people can be trusted with Rin Okumura?" One member asked. "This group just happened to surface just when Lucifer declared the war between the Illuminati and us. I find that questionable, at least. What do you say about this Mephisto?"

The demon took a bow in front of his superiors. "Have you ever heard of the phrase 'Killing two birds with one stone?' I'm just applying it to our current debacle." The Grigori stared at Mephisto curiously. "With us agreeing to hand Rin over to Tarot to fight the Illuminati; we can not only not have to worry about the Illuminati as we try and recover, but you also don't have to worry about Rin anymore."

"But these are just twenty-one ordinary people. You expect them to go against Lucif-" Mephisto cut off one of the other members.

"Twenty-one ordinary people. With extraordinary powers. I bet you that they'd give Lucifer a run for his money when they're all together!" The Grigori looked at each other in concern then the head member sighed.

"Very well then. But we will be keeping an eye on their actions to see if they try to take us down. You are dismissed." Mephisto tipped his hat and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

~~~|X|~~~

The group placed their bags on the airports tiled floor.  **Magician**  shaking out his hands due to his luggage's weight. "Alright men, we have about 3 hours before our flight starts boarding. But let's get our tickets now so we don't forget later." Joseph said walking up to the front desk.

Rin looked at his companions who each had begun to do their own thing.  _ **Magician**_  was blowing air onto his hands to try and remove the burns he got,  ** _Judgement_**  had stepped outside to smoke on his last cigarette for a while, and Nemu just talked to his puppet.

Rin then looked at Joseph and noticed something. He didn't know where they were going. He then quickly walked up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey Boss, I have another question." Rin told him.

"Shoot"

"Where exactly are we headed?" Rin asked as the woman at the desk handed him 5 tickets.

"It's actually quite complicated, but were headed to America. That's where the man known as Michael Gedouin relocated from his previous base of operations, the Far East Lab." Joseph turned around to look at Rin as he continued. "Tarot only discovered this recently, thanks to our expert intelligence." He held up a photo of a weird building then pointed to a corner of the photo. Rin stared at intently, and he saw the Statue of Liberty's torch.

'So that's his evidence.' Rin thought.

"Now, I know what you're thinking, we could just take a plane across the Pacific Ocean right? No, we can't." Joseph explained. "There might be the possibility that the Illuminati knows about us, and thinks we'll take the Japan to New York flight and try and crash the plane. Even if it's a minuscule chance, we can't take it."

Rin nodded in understanding.

"That's why were going to take various planes, trains, and boats to get to England. Then well figure out a plan of attack from there." Joseph handed Rin his ticket and passport. Then called the other three over so they can go through baggage check.

"Shouldn't they have a base here?" Rin asked as he put his backpack through the scanner.

"They used to. It was called the Far East Lab. It specialized in Elixir Research. The occupants were then transferred to that area in New York due to the abundance of resources there." Joseph said walking through the metal detector.

"How the hell are you getting all this information?" Rin asked as they left the baggage check.

"That's thanks to the member of Tarot designated as  ** _The Hermit_**. His ability is Omnipresence, but they can only send his information via electronics." Joseph then gave his evidence by using his phone that showed Shima and the brainwashed Izumo inside of a building of some kind. Rin clenched his fist as he saw his two classmates. "I guess this is the girl you were talking about earlier today?" Joseph asked. Rin then nodded in response. Joseph then put away his phone and they headed towards their gate.

~~~|X|~~~

The five then strapped themselves in to their plane seats. Rin was in between Joseph and  ** _Judgement_** , but just before the plane could take off, an announcement from the pilot came on from the P.A. System explaining that there is something obstructing their flight path.

"I wonder what the problem could be that's obstructing their view." One of the other passengers asked. There were murmurs among the crowd about what the problem could be, until a few minutes later,  ** _Judgement_**  looked out the window and said what any of them would say if they saw what was out that window.

"Oh shit…" Rin and Joseph then looked outside the same window to see something they wished they didn't have to see yet.

A member of the Illuminati walking towards the plane. The man was tall and burly with a gas mask that seemed sowed onto his face. And just a few seconds after they saw the man. The emergency exit for the plane suddenly burst open. Shocking everyone in the plane.

"So they've already found us, huh?" Joseph said, with a bit of snark in his voice. " ** _Fool_** ,  ** _Magician_** ,  ** _Judgement_**. You three will face the attacker head on, while  ** _Moon_**  and I will protect the passengers and calm them down." The three nodded their heads in agreement as they got out of their seats to engage in combat. But just before Rin left, Joseph stopped him.

"Hold on  ** _Fool_** , let me give you your serum." Joseph took out the syringe labeled with the number zero and injected it into Rin's wrist, where the vein was. Rin flinched when it pierced his skin. And once it was in his bloodstream, Joseph then wiped away the loose blood. "Now listen, it might take a while for the serum to take effect, so don't die." Joseph told Rin and then sent Rin on his way to join  ** _Magician_**  and **_Judgement_**.


	3. First Encounter Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rin's battle with the mysterious gas masked man has just begun.

Rin stood on the runway in between  ** _Magician_**  and  ** _Judgement_** , a few meters away from their opponent.

"So, what's your deal being here?"  ** _Magician_**  asked the opponent. The gas masked man just starred at the three, not giving them an answer. As  ** _Magician_**  kept asking him questions and receiving no answer. Rin noticed that  ** _Judgement_**  began to emit blue electricity. Rin thought that he was charging for an attack. That was until he was pulled to the ground by his leg. Shocking all three combatants.

"What the hell?"  ** _Judgement_**  shouted in anger. They then noticed a foggy tendril wrapped around his ankle. Rin then, without thinking, summoned a blue flame to burn away the tendril.  ** _Judgement_**  was about to ask Rin about the sudden blue flame but realized that now wasn't the time and got up from the ground.

"I guess this guy can emit fog and control it."  ** _Magician_**  hypothesized, watching the fog recoil and flail in pain.

"Doesn't matter to me."  ** _Judgement_**  said as he began to charge up power again. Three foggy tendrils shot out attempting to stab him. As Rin was about to try and push him out of the way, A thick metal sheet surrounded  ** _Judgement_**  stopping the enemies attack.

"What was that?" Rin asked, he then looked at  _ **Magician**_  who had his hand extended.

_Tarot Name: Magician_

_Ability: Ferrokinesis_

Rin was stunned at the ability  ** _Magician_**  had just used. Was that the power of and arcana serum? These people were super human! And was this going to happen to him? Rin was suddenly snapped out of his thoughts when  ** _Judgement_**  spoke.

"Thanks for the save there." The metal protecting  ** _Judgement_**  bended showing that his eyes and mouth had a light purple glow, and the blue sparks from before had become more wild. He then took a stance and then shouted

"DYNE CANNON!" A giant purple beam was emitted from his mouth and pierced through the enemy's chest.

_Tarot Name: Judgement_

_Ability: Ergokinesis_

Rin just stared at awe at the new power he just saw. Then  ** _Magician_**  then started to clap at the performance that  ** _Judgement_**  had just displayed. "Too easy." He said as he pulled out a cigarette. But then, the hole in the enemy's chests started to fill with fog and returned to normal. This caused  ** _Judgement_**  to drop his cigarette in surprise.

"Did he just heal himself with the fog?" Rin asked. But just then, the holes of the gas mask opened up and started to emit a weird colored fog. It smelled horrible.

"Gah… This smells weird."  _ **Magician**_  said holding his breath. Not only did the fog smell bad, but it also kind of seemed a bit fluffy, like clouds. Then something hit Rin.

"This isn't some fog, it's gas! We're surrounded by some sort of gas!" Rin shouted. "Everyone get to higher ground!"  ** _Magician_**  and  ** _Judgement_**  followed Rin onto the top of the plane to get out of the gas. They didn't know whether it was toxic or not, but they wanted to be cautious.

"So I guess those tendrils from before were gas as well."  ** _Judgement_**  assumed as the emitted gas started to cross the cement ground. "Now we need to find a new way of attack."

The three of them began to ponder what to do. That was until two gas tendrils wrapped themselves around the necks of  ** _Magician_**  and  ** _Judgement_** , and pulled them towards the main body. Rin noticed that they started to squeeze their necks, suffocating them.

This made Rin panic and tried to find a solution to the problem. That's when it hit him, he could use his blue flame to set the gas on fire and attack the main body where he was located at. "I really hope the metal on the plane can protect the people from the flames." Rin prayed that his plan would work as he snapped his fingers and ignited the gas in a blue inferno.

Rin then heard a low-toned screech of pain, followed by the sight of  ** _Judgement_**  and  ** _Magician_**  dropping to the ground. Each of them giving out a loud grunt.

"That was so lucky."  ** _Judgement_**  said as he ran to Rin's side. Once the flames dispersed they saw their opponent still standing. "Dammit. I thought that would be the killing blow."

"If only we could physically hit him." Rin pondered.

The three just stood there, wondering what they could do. That's when  ** _Judgement_**  started to speak. "Wait a minute, there might be a way to revert his gas body into a solid form."  ** _Magician_**  and Rin looked at their ally in confusion. "When water reaches 100 degrees Celsius, it starts to evaporate and becomes a gas, right? And when it reaches below 0 degrees Celsius, it starts to freeze and becomes a solid." The two instantly picked up on what  ** _Judgement_**  was talking about.

"So if we can get him to come into contact with cold temperatures, then he would revert back to his original form. Allowing us to hit him!" Rin slammed his fist into his palm in sudden realization.  ** _Judgement_**  nodded back in agreement.

"I'll get a bunch of frozen water from the airport stores.  ** _Magician_** , you play the annoyer. Then once I splash him,  ** _Fool_**   can go in for the kill!" They broke away, and Judgement started to sprint for the airport. The opponent noticed his escape, and sent a gassy arrow at him, which was stopped by a thick piece of sheet metal.

 ** _Judgement_**  then began to gather energy in his hand and tossed it on the ground creating an orb like object, shouting "DYNE GRENADE!" Once he stepped on it, he leaped into the air and once he was a few meters away from the object, he said "Detonate." Causing the orb to explode and the blast launching him through the airport window. Rin had never seen anything like it. It was like he was in a competitive First-Person Shooter player.

"Hey ugly! Bet you can't even remember your name!."  ** _Magician_** 's taunts seemed to be getting to their opponent. As he then charged at the Ferrokinesis user with intent to kill. The taunts continued as  ** _Magician_**  kept dodging him with fluent usage of his ability. Using a metal plate to bounce into the air, out of the opponent's range.

Rin then noticed an airplane loader, the ones who put their suitcases on their plane, on the ground in fear of the powers they presented. Rin then dashed over to him to try and get his attention. "Excuse me, sir?" He looked at the half-demon in curiosity. "Can you help me get something from this airplane? It's a sword bag." The man hesitantly agreed to help, realizing that Rin was a good guy.

Meanwhile,  ** _Judgement_**  had just burst through the airport window and was sprinting to find the right convenience store for their plan. Once he found one that had ice bags for sale he dashed right in and headed to the counter. "Yes sir? Can I help you?" The woman asked.

 ** _Judgement_**  placed a quite thick stack of Yen on the counter and said "I need a bunch of ice bags, enough to fill a steel bucket! STAT!" The woman behind the counter followed suit and gave him what  ** _Judgement_**  asked for, and he headed off. Grabbing a janitor's cleaning bucket along the way.

 ** _Judgement_**  then emptied the bucket and cleaned it of the dirty water. Followed by filling it up with ice and then pouring water into it to make the water cold. "There, this should do it!" He said as he then took a large basket cover to keep the water steady and headed back to the battle field.

Rin was getting into position with the Kurikara in his hands. He was close enough so that he could dash in for an attack, but far enough to be out of range. Rin was being cautious of their opponent, fearing that they might not have seen what other tricks he had, until one of the gassy tentacles stabbed  ** _Magician_**  right in his side. He then tumbled to the ground in pain. Rin was shocked, he then ran towards his ally to see if he was alright, ignoring his previous strategy of staying out of the enemy's range.

The gas masked man then turned towards Rin and summoned a tentacle to attack him. But just in the nick of time,  ** _Judgement_**  had arrived with the cold water to toss on the opponent. "Maybe you should  ** _COOL-OFF_**!" He shouted, making a one liner. Once the water was splashed all over the opponent,  _ **Judgement**_ then made a finger gun and shouted, "DYNE PISTOL!" piercing the gas masked man's left arm. His only response was "Holy shit that worked…"

"Now's your chance  ** _Fool_**!" Rin nodded and dashed towards the opponent and unsheathed the Kurikara and hit him like he was using a baseball bat. there was a split-second delay between when Rin hit him and when he was sent flying into a luggage carrier burned by the blue flames.

 ** _Judgement_**  and  ** _Magician_**  rendezvoused with Rin in front of the knocked out man, with  ** _Magician_**  having a limp from his injury. "Do you think they'll know what to do with this guy" Rin asked his companions. Then  ** _Magician_**  took out a piece of paper and a pen and wrote  _I'm a bad guy. Please arrest me while I'm still knocked out!_   ** _Judgement_**  got a little chuckle from that as they group headed back to the plane to re-board it.

Once they entered the plane through the emergency exit, they were greeted by applause from the passengers and staff. Rin slightly blushed, he never thought that he'd get this kind of recognition. Especially since he was the son of Satan.

They then took their seats as the plane began to take off.

"So where are we headed off to boss?" Rin asked Joseph.

"Were going to Hong Kong. That's where well rendezvous with another member of Tarot." He responded, then  ** _Judgement_**  entered the conversation.

"Our main stops will be places where Tarot has a greater influence than the Illuminati in the area. That way, we won't be ambushed." Rin nodded in understanding.

' _Hang in there Izumo, I'm gonna save you._ '

~~~|X|~~~

Inside the Illuminati's holding cell in Fort Sumter, South Carolina. A woman with bandages covering her head, and short white hair was seen laying on the ground. Despair was the only expression she could present to any one she met.

"Izumo, where are you?" She whispered with faint breath. And then proceeded to cry.


	4. The Empress and The Gunman Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once Rin and the others arrive in Hong Kong, they get some well deserved rest; but not for long.

_-Hong Kong Airport_

_November 2th, 20XX_

_8:00 PM_

"There we go! Now, it should take a while before your ability activates." Joseph said to Nemu as he removed the syringe from his wrist. Rin was watching the two talk to each other, then took a look at his hands, wondering why his ability hadn't presented itself during their fight with the man in the gas mask.

"Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with you." Rin looked up to see  _ **Judgement**_  standing above him, fiddling with a cigarette between his fingers. "It will be a while before your power shows itself. It usually happens when you've become pessimistic in your goals." Rin stared at his companion as he pointed to  ** _Magician_**  over by the baggage claim. "It took  ** _Magician_**  6 month to activate his ability."

Rin didn't know how to respond. It did feel relaxing to know that other Tarot members have had trouble with unlocking their abilities. Just then a limo pulled up to the airport and the driver then walked inside and held up a sign that says 'Oswell'

"Ah! There it is. Hey! Over here!" Joseph called out to the limo driver and shook his hand. "Good to see you!" The limo driver then presented them with our transportation and they got in.

During the drive to our hotel, Rin's mind kept wandering to the other members of Tarot, who were they. And who hasn't gotten their powers yet? He decided to bring it up with Joseph.

"Hey boss, just exactly who are the other members of Tarot? I kind of want to know who I can trust and such." Rin asked Joseph.

In response, Joseph reached into his bag and pulled out a binder.

"This binder contains all the information regarding members of Tarot. Take a look through it." Rin began to flip through the pages studying each one carefully. Well, carefully as he could.

Each file had a picture as well as a name and description with it. It also lists their powers. Rin continued to flip through the files. ' ** _Emperor_** ', ' ** _Temperance_** ', ' ** _The Star_** ', all of the tarot cards were in here. Except ' _ **The Lovers**_ ' card for some reason.

"Hey boss, aside from  ** _Moon_**  and I, the only one that is missing is the  ** _Lovers_**. Is that the one that the Illuminati took?" Joseph nodded in response to Rin's question. He then looked back at the files and thought to himself 'I wonder if Izumo was given that serum.' It was possible, if she wasn't compatible with it, she would've died.

The limo then pulled up to a quite fancy hotel, and the group entered inside of it. Joseph then ordered each person a room with a single bed. He then handed the man behind the counter a large amount of money. Rin was shocked to say the least. Joseph then returned to the group holding their room keys, Rin got room 302 and they headed upstairs to take a breather.

_10:00 PM_

Rin was brushing his teeth in front of his bathroom mirror as his phone began to ring on the counter next to him, it said private number on it for some reason. He then picked up the phone and tried to answer it as best as he could. "Rin Okumura speaking. I'm currently brushing my teeth, so I'll try to talk the best I can."

" **Hey there Rin**." when Rin heard the person on the other end of the line his eyes went wide and he almost choked on his toothbrush in shock. He was quick to recover and got back to the phone.

"Shura! Um… h-hey! How's it going? I'm just doing some late night studying. I promised Yukio before he left that I'd ca-" Before Rin could finish his lie about where he was, Shura interrupted him.

" **I know the situation Rin; You ran off to try and find Izumo right?** " Rin gave a sigh of defeat. He'd been found out. Now the Order will try and take him back to Ture Cross Academy and he'd never get the chance to save Izumo. Then he decided that he'd put his foot down. He wasn't going back to True Cross until he rescued Izumo and brought Shima back.

"I'm not going back Shura. I don't care if you cut off my legs and drag me back to True Cross Academy, I won't stop trying to look for Izumo and Shima." Rin said confidently into the phone. "This might be my only shot at the Illuminati. I can't waste it. So send 10 exorcists, 50, or even 100! I will never stop. Tell that to the Vatican why don't ya!?"

Rin felt like he made an impact on Shura, probably even made her feel scared slightly. " **Okay…** " She simply said. Rin made a noise that defined his confusion as he almost dropped the phone in shock. " **I don't know the reason why, but the Vatican just decided to put you under the care of that guy.** " Rin sat on his bed in his pajamas as Shura continued. " **You know, that Joshen guy.** "

"Do you mean Joseph?" Rin corrected her.

" **Him too.** " Rin internally face palmed and just assumed that Shura was slightly drunk when she said that. " **Anyways, the Vatican are going to keep tabs on you. Just incase you guys go and try to take down the Vatican. They're still a bit wary about your employer.** "

Rin then asked Shura a question. "Wait, what about him are they suspicious about?"

" **I don't know, I'm just the messenger.** " She replied while yawning. " **Anyways, call me if you need help with something.** " Shura then said goodnight to Rin and then hung up the phone. Rin then crawled into bed and fell asleep.

~~~|X|~~~

_?_

Rin had begun to feel himself being strangled. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't stand as well, because he was dangling by his throat off a skyscraper. Rin began to claw at the man who was strangling him, trying to get him to put him down but to no avail. Rin then started to gasp, and his breaths became quieter. Before Rin blacked out, he tried to look at the man who was strangling him but to no avail. Then he heard the person say something to him.

"Die, Rin Okumura." The voice was calm, yet sinister. Once Rin had registered what he had said, the man released his grasp on Rin, and he fell.

As time in the air progressed, Rin began to fall faster and faster. If he'd hit the ground, he would die. Sadly, it looked like this was inevitable and he braced himself for impact but then halfway down the building, he saw a bright light up in the sky. And out of it was some one he'd never thought he'd see. It was Izumo Kamiki who was gently gliding down, like an angel to catch Rin.

"I-Izumo!? What are you doing here!?" He asked. But Izumo simply put a finger on his lips to quiet him.

"Don't worry Rin, I'm here for you." She said. Rin was looking up at the purple haired girl, and then a thought came to his mind. Probably something that he'd never would've imagined he'd think.

' _She looks like a goddess._ ' Izumo then removed her finger from Rin's lips and replaced it with her own pair of lips. She had kissed him. And both parties felt pleasure. Rin's perpetual falling had slowed down and eventually came to a complete stop. The two were in midair with their lips interacting with each other. Rin felt that he was in heaven. He then noticed that Izumo had grabbed Rin's wrist, and had put it on her breast.

Then Rin opened his eyes.

He was staring right at Kuro, who was soundly sleeping on the chair next to him. Rin looked at the clock next to him, seeing that the time was 7:00 AM. About the time that someone should wake up. Rin then thought back to his dream, and how he saw Izumo in that dream.

"Like a goddess." he spoke aloud. Rin then knocked on his head with his knuckles. Why was he thinking like that? He had a crush on Shiemi, not Izumo. He became frustrated with his own thoughts as he slammed his back on his bed. After a few minutes Rin had gotten out of bed to take a shower and then head down to have breakfast.

~~~|X|~~~

_Hotel Lobby_

_November 3rd 20XX_

_7:45 AM_

Rin stepped off the elevator, still contemplating about what he was currently feeling. He then entered the lobby area where he saw  ** _Judgement_**  holding a thick black laptop in between his arm and his side.

"Hey." He spoke to the half demon. "Listen, boss has already headed out. He's bringing  ** _The Empress_**  here to meet you  ** _Fool_**." Rin nodded at his laser shooting companion. He was trying as hard as he can to not punch someone whenever they called him by his code name.  ** _Judgement_**  continued. "I'm guessing  ** _Magician_**  and  ** _Moon_**  haven't woken up yet. So in the meantime, the boss wanted me to show you this." **_Judgement_**  handed Rin the laptop he was carrying. "Boss just said, ' ** _Hermit_**  told me he wants to see  ** _The Fool_** ' and just left."

Rin looked to his right towards a lounge area, with a few cushions surrounding a table. ' _That might be a good place to use this thing._ ' He thought. He then took a seat and opened the laptop and started it up. Surprisingly, it turned on in only a few seconds. On the screen was an already opened program that just had the roman numeral for nine on it, with a sound wave passing through it.

" **Hello, you must be Rin Okumura. a.k.a. _The Fool_.** " Rin assumed that this was  ** _The Hermit_**.

"Yes, I'm  ** _The Fool_**." Rin responded.

" **I've been watching the Illuminati's actions for the past month now. And late last night, something happened that might be important information for you.** " Rin pondered about it. It could have something to do about Izumo's brain washing.

"What is it?" He asked.

" **It's about the reason why you joined us in the first place.** "

' _I knew it._ " Rin thought.

" **I'll play you the recording containing the information now.** " A window popped up with a video player and Rin clicked on the play icon.

~~~|X|~~~

_Fort Sumter Holding Cell #712-C_

_November 2nd 20XX_

_1:00 PM_

Tamamo climbed into her "bed" which was just a pillow with a rotting blanket on the cold steel floor. But before she fell asleep, she pulled something from underneath her pillow. It was some sort of object, probably a piece of chalk. She didn't know. Tamamo pressed it against the wall next to her bed and dragged it down, creating a line of the unknown material.

She then heard the slight tapping of shoes against the metallic floor. She new that he was coming. The man who tortured her for years for his experiments, and maybe even for his own enjoyment a bit. She turned to face the glass that separated her from the hallway, and there he was.

Michael Gedouin.

"Hello there, Ms. Kamiki. How are you on this fine day?" The smile he gave was an insult to her. She crawled on her hands and knees towards the glass wall and pressed her hands against it. "Are you going to ask me to see your 'precious daughter'?" Michael was mocking her; but Tamamo couldn't help it. She made her lips quiver, stared up at the messed-up man, and gave a nod at him.

Michael put a hand to his chin then gave a large grin down at Tamamo. "You know what, I'm a nice man. I'll let you see her." He turned to his left and whistled down the hall for something. "I'm going to have to ask you to step away from the glass, if you want to enter." Tamamo did as she was told as someone entered her field of view. It was a young woman with long purple hair wearing the attire that the Kamiki family used for the Divine Summoning except there was a something very wrong about the mask. But, the person who just appeared was definitely Izumo; except that she had white fox ears and nine fox tails. Michael and Izumo stepped inside Tamamo's cell, leaving the gate open. Tamamo could have escaped, but she knew she couldn't do it. Plus, she was more focused on her daughter.

"I-Izumo?" Tamamo asked weakly. She stood up and walked over to her daughter and put her hand on her cheek. And was immediately sent flying from an attack from Izumo. Michael then began to laugh so hard people thought that his lungs were going to explode, but all Tamamo could do was just stare at her daughter.

"W-what did you do?" She then crawled over to her two visitors and shouted with as much might as she could. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BABY!" Tears flooded the former priestess' eyes.

"Do you like her?" Michael said as he placed a hand on Izumo's shoulder "After we transferred the Nine-Tailed Fox Spirit into your daughter. We found out that after all the experimenting we did to you, the demon became docile; she was useless to us." Tamamo's ears perked up. "So that's why we put this on her." Michael pointed to the mask on her face. "It's my latest invention. Even though it's a prototype, I can say that it was a success!"

"She's completely mind controlled! She does what ever I ask of her. She doesn't talk back, let alone talk at all. And if I tell her to kill someone. She does it! No matter who it is!" Michael was so giddy about Izumo's current state. "But that's not the best part." Michael then used his left hand to slap Izumo across the face something that Tamamo couldn't understand until after it happened. Tamamo's eyes went wide at the sight of her child being abused. "Look, she doesn't even flinch, or acknowledge the pain!" He then gave a hearty laugh.

"I won't be able to talk to Izumo ever again?" Tamamo said under her breath. Obviously still in pain from when she was hit by her own daughter.

"Not exactly." Tamamo got onto her knees, staring up at Michael. "The mask takes time for it to reconfigure the brain; and with the orders we have given it, she will be done at exactly 18:00 on December 24th. So think of you seeing your daughter again as a little Christmas gift." Michael gave a chuckle as he continued "And don't think you can just tear the mask off. It will only come off once the adjustments to her brain are complete. You'd need a miracle to get it off!" Tamamo just stared at the two as they left her room and closed the door.

"By the way." Michael stated as Izumo walked away. "The mask doesn't have a name. Maybe I'll name it after your pathetic little family. So that way, your existence won't be for naught." Michael began to walk away, giving out a hearty laugh. A laugh that haunted Tamamo's dreams, and Izumo's as well.

Tamamo clenched her fists and started to pound them on the steel floor as she begun to rant about Michael.

"Darn you! Darn you! Darn you! You fat monster! You've taken my eldest daughter and turned her into a walking vegetable!"

"Why? Why god why?!"

"What did I do to deserve this treatment?!"

"That f- f-f- fu- f- f- fu- fu- f-f-f-f-fucking bastard!" Michael had done it. He had pushed Tamamo to swear. She had never said a swear word her entire life, until this point. She then gave a horrifying scream, as if she was being mauled by a monster.

~~~|X|~~~

_Hotel Lobby_

_November 3rd 20XX_

_7:55 AM_

Rin just stared at the media player in shock and then began to take in all the information. ' _The woman in the cell was Izumo's mother. That scientist was Michael Gedouin. and I have until December 24th at 6:00 PM to save Izumo._ ' But then Rin felt hopeless. Michael said that someone would need a miracle to get that mask off before the time limit.

' _Is it hopeless?_ ' Rin thought as he leaned back in his chair. Unaware of the surroundings of the Hotel Lobby. ' _Did I come on a plane to Hong Kong just to realize my optimism was futile?_ ' As Rin continued to contemplate the sound of a chain gun was revving. Until  ** _Judgement_**  snapped him out of his thoughts.

" ** _Fool_**! Get down now!" Judgement tackled Rin out of the chair as bullets were sprayed over them and the sounds of civilians screamed. Then a voice which Rin assumed was their attacker spoke.

"Dammit! Missed. Why can't real life have an aimbot? It would make everything so much easier." He shouted in frustration.  ** _J udgement's_** eyes widened.

"That voice…" He then peaked over the make shift barrier he had made when he tackled Rin to look at their attacker. Rin did the same. It was a white man with casual clothes, an unkempt beard, and he looked a bit chubby.  ** _Judgement_**  then stood all they way up to address the attacker. "Why the hell is someone like you doing here?" The attacker looked towards their direction.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here? If it isn't Jol Min-jun. Or should I call you by your preferred name ' **Teh_Trumpotar** '."  ** _Judgement_**  glared at the opposition as Rin looked between the two confused.

' _The Trumpeter?_ '


	5. The Empress and The Gunman Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Joseph meets with the member of Tarot assigned to China, Rin and Judgement interact with, apparently, an old acquaintance of Judgement or as the person calls him Jol Min-Jun

_Tiananmen Square_

_November 3rd 20XX_

_5:00 AM_

Joseph stepped out of the helicopter that brought him to Tiananmen Square. Beijing and Hong Kong were far enough apart that taking a helicopter over early in the morning was a sensible option.

He began to walk up to the bridge where he saw a group of people. In the center was a woman dressed in clothes that a Chinese Empress would wear that was adorned with the female symbol in a heart, and a head dress with the roman numeral three in the center. She gave a bow at Joseph which caused him to feel hostility to the security officers that surrounded her.

"Good morning Boss. How are you?" She spoke as she lifted her head. "When I heard you were staying here, I just had to greet you." Joseph walked up to her and shook her hand.

"How are you today,  ** _Empress_**?" Joseph asked her. "Sorry that I came over on just such a short notice, I'm currently on a mission."  ** _Empress_** ' eyebrows were raised at Joseph's words. "I've finally found  ** _The Fool_**  and  ** _The Moon_**  Tarot members. They've joined our cause on the stance that we help them get their friend back. So we're headed to America to find Michael Gedouin. A high ranking Illuminati member." Joseph told her as he took out a picture of the girl  ** _Fool_**  was looking for. "We're only going to be stopped here a few days, after that we'll be on our way to India." Empress nodded at Joseph, telling him that she understood their situation.

"May I at least meet them, before you leave?"  ** _Empress_**  asked her boss. Joseph nodded as he opened the door to the helicopter he arrived in and  ** _Empress_**  stepped in.

"We're in a hotel in Hong Kong. It's still not morning yet, but when we arrive it will probably be either eight or nine." Joseph closed the helicopter door behind him and the two took off.

~~~|X|~~~

Rin looked between his ally and the new attacker, being completely confused about their relationship. "Wait, what's going on? Why did he call you ' **The Trumpeter** '  ** _Judgement_**?" Rin asked the Tarot member. Their opponent looked at him and spoke.

"You must be that Rin Okumura kid, right?" Rin's eyes widened at what he said. A slight shiver when down his back.

"H-how did you know my name?" Rin stuttered, he could sense that this man was scarier than any demon he had or ever will face. And that's saying a lot.

Their opponent chuckled. "I've been hired to take you in." He said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a poster with his face on it.

_Rin Okumura_

_Wanted_

_ALIVE_

_Reward_

_$17,000,000_

Rin fell on his butt in awe of what he saw. He was worth seventeen million US Dollars. "You aren't the only one in your group with a bounty kid." Their opponent then pulled out four other posters with the faces of his companions on it.

_Joseph Oswell_

_Wanted_

_ALIVE_

_Reward_

_$35,000,000_

_Nemu Takara_

_Wanted_

_ALIVE_

_Reward_

_$15,000,000_

_Jol Min-Jun_

_Wanted_

_DEAD_

_Reward_

_$20,000,000_

_Eugene Grell_

_Wanted_

_DEAD_

_Reward_

_$20,000,000_

As Rin looked at the posters, he noticed that both the ones for  ** _Judgement_**  and who he assumed was  ** _Magician_**  both were wanted dead, Joseph, Nemu, and himself were wanted alive. ' _Joseph might have information that the Illuminati wants. But why me and Nemu?_ ' Rin scratched his head as their opponent continued.

"Your head is worth twenty fucking million! It's something I've always wanted, to take down the man known as  **Teh_Trumpotar**!" Their opponent then opened up his stomach revealing a steel chamber and out popped a chain gun. Presumably the same chain gun that attacked them before.

 ** _Judgement_**  grabbed Rin by the arm and pulled him behind a square pillar to take cover from the chain gun rounds. That's when Rin asked the question to  ** _Judgement_**. "Do you know this guy?" He then nodded in response to Rin's question.

"His name is Marcus Hilepold. He and I go way back."

Suddenly the barrage of chain gun bullets stopped and they heard Marcus's voice close to them. "Saying that we go way back is an understatement, Jol." He then picked up  ** _Judgement_**  by the collar and slammed him against the pillar a couple of times. "How's about you tell your new friend all about our little relationship."

 ** _Judgement_**  glared at him and before he could say anything, Marcus slammed him into the pillar three times causing small chunks of the pillar off of it. "Don't you try to talk back to me you son of a bitch! And if you don't comply, I'll jam my thumbs into your eyes!"  ** _Judgement_**  stared wide-eyed in fear at Marcus. Rin had just watched who he thought was a stoic badass was shaking in fear at an old acquaintance of his.

"Alright, I'll tell the whole story.


	6. The Empress and The Gunman Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle between Judgement and Marcus continues as Judgement reveals his past.

_The Jol family is a family that originates from South Korea. They have been known for having extremely fast and precise finger movements. So much that when the type writer was introduced to the Koreas, the first Jol to use it could type a 6 page essay in under a minute with correct grammar._

_When the most recent addition to the family, Jol Min-Jun, was born. They moved to America for an increased job opportunity. Which was right at the time when the video game genre 'First Person Shooters' or 'FPS' was just starting out._

_His father got him a computer that was installed with DOS and with the game known as Commander Keen by the company id Software. Turns out, the Jol family and video games go hand in hand._

_Jol Min-Jun proceeded to by a bunch of games for DOS, and when he bought the game Doom, he was introduced to the world of online competitive gaming._

_As he begun to play, he established himself as one of the greatest online players ever. Every time a new online was released, people would wonder 'What would Jol Min-Jun's call himself in this game?' because he never stuck to a name. Until one day._

_When he was playing a deathmatch in the Quake II multiplayer, he met a hacker that was so powerful, he wasn't able to be banned by the admins. That was Marcus Hilepold. Nothing could stop him. But Jol Min-Jun wanted to test himself, see if he could beat the "unbeatable"._

_Jol Min-Jun was fighting a one-sided battle in his favor._

_This cemented his identification as "The Hacker Killer." and made his name officially " **Teh_Trumpotar** "._

~~~|X|~~~

"I still have every single rage of any hacker I've beaten ingrained in my memory. Especially yours, Marcus." He smirked when  ** _Judgement_**  said his name. "You mentioned rape of my mother 8 times, arson 11 times, and homicide 16 times. I wouldn't have been surprised if I found out you were a sociopath."  _ **Judgement**_  stared up at Marcus. "And look at you, a few minutes ago, you used your chain gun in a public area just to kill one person."

Marcus kneed  ** _Judgement_**  right in the gut. He then crumpled on the ground clutching his stomach, almost puking up what Rin thought would be his breakfast.

"Now that everything's been cleared up. I'm going to kill you as payback!" Marcus then grabbed  ** _Judgement_**  by the collar and tossed him up in the air. His stomach opened up again revealing the chain gun and began to gun him down.  ** _Judgement_**  acted quickly by recovering in the air and launched a barrage of beams from his finger tips that collided with the bullets.

Once  ** _Judgement_**  landed on the ground, he tackled Marcus back to the center of the lobby. Rin looked behind the pillar to watch the fight. But as he watched, he remembered something. During their fight with the man in the gas mask,  ** _Judgement_**  used a grenade he made with energy to launch himself towards the airport. Rin had heard about that technique, it was called blast jumping. You'd propel yourself using an explosion. Impossible in real life, your legs would get blown off. But completely feasible in video games. Rin couldn't believe that he didn't figure out that he was a competitive gamer.

In the center of the hotel lobby,  ** _Judgement_**  and Marcus walked in a circle, glaring at each other. Each one waiting for the other one to make a move. Almost as if this was a scene from an old western. The entire lobby was silent, until  ** _Judgement_**  shouted "DYNE PISTOL!" and made a finger gun to launch a beam at Marcus.

Marcus jumped up into the air to dodge the beam. Just as the beam passed below Marcus,  ** _Judgement_**  redirected the beam, causing it to make a bent 60 degree angle and hit Marcus in the leg, causing him to crash to the ground.  ** _Judgement_**  then dashed over to him but then Marcus' mouth opened up to fire a revolver bullet which was at such a close range that  ** _Judgement_**  couldn't block it. It hit him in the shoulder.

This caused him to sprawl onto the floor, clutching his shoulder to stop the bleeding. "What was that?"  ** _Judgement_**  questions. He then took his hand off his wounded shoulder to check the palm to see that he was still bleeding.

"Do you like it?" Marcus asked with a grin. Rin and  ** _Judgement_**  saw the barrel of the revolver slide back into his mouth. "I completely replaced my body with an android one, filled with guns! I'm living artillery, A walking gun store!" Marcus began to chuckle. Rin could only wonder if the Illuminati gave him this power or if he did it himself.

"Now fear my wrath!" Marcus' shoulders popped open revealing the barrels of two different grenade launchers; Rin and  ** _Judgement's_** eyes widened at the sight. They began to launch grenades at rapid fire. Marcus not caring for if he killed a civilian or not.  ** _Judgement_**  jumped up and grabbed a ceiling light that was dangling down while Rin hid behind the pillar again. Though the grenades blew up the pillar, leaving Rin slightly exposed.

**_Judgement_**  was trying to figure out his next plan of attack. Though he was panting quite hard. He thought he'd cough up a lung. He began to just stare down at Marcus. ' _This man is serious about trying to kill me. He even modified his entire body just to do so._ ' Just as  ** _Judgement_**  finished his thought. Marcus looked up at him and angled the grenade launcher on his right shoulder down and then fired a grenade. It bounced off the ground and went vertically and stopped right in front of  ** _Judgement's_**  face.

There was something weird about this grenade. It was a long black cylindrical shape. different from the ammunition he fired before, which were shell shaped. Suddenly there was this bright light that blinded  ** _Judgement_**  and he fell off the light and on to his back. The fall was hard and could have broken his back.

**_Judgement's_**  eyesight went white for a bit and a loud ringing was present in his ears. " ** _Fool_**?  ** _Fool_** , where are you?" He shouted out for Rin, though all he could hear was a muffled voice that seemed to say 'What happened.'

"The fucker hit me with a flashbang!"  ** _Judgement_**  was wiping his eyes as he heard the muffled voice again, asking. 'What's a flashbang?'

"It's a type of grenade that stuns an opponent, causing temporary blindness and deafness. I'm only assuming what you're saying."  ** _Judgement_**  continued. "It caused by the pyrotechnic metal-oxidant mix of magnesium or aluminum and an oxidizer." Rin watched as  ** _Judgement_**  stumbled around the center area of the lobby. "He must of used the flash bang to take cover somewhere; did you see where he went?" Rin shook his head, but assuming that  ** _Judgement_**  was still blinded he continued.

"Watch out, he could be any where in this lobby. There's no way he'd flee with just two of us facing against him." Rin then noticed that Marcus was quietly walking behind  ** _Judgement_**  and out of his elbow, silently extended a double barrel shotgun that was aimed at  ** _Judgement's_**  back. However thanks to Marcus' flashbang,  ** _Judgement_**  couldn't hear a warning from Rin. "Luckily, my eye sight and hearing have returned to normal. So now he shou-" Rin acted quickly and interrupted  ** _Judgement_**.

"Behind you!"  ** _Judgement_**  stared at Rin, his eyes slightly blood shot from the flashbang.

"What?" Then there was a click, the sound of Marcus arming his elbow-shotgun.  ** _Judgement's_**  eyes shot open when the click was heard but by that point it was too late.

**_KER-CRACK!_ **

Marcus fired both barrels into  ** _Judgement's_**  back. The buck shot leaving multiple holes in his brown hoodie.

" ** _Judgement_**!" Rin shouted and reached his hand out as he watched his companion collapse to his knees and then fell with his chest to the floor. He couldn't believe it. Rin just knew this person yesterday. And he was already dead. "No…" Rin collapsed to his knees in the same fashion that  ** _Judgement_**  did with his head peaking out from behind the pillar. He was in complete shock.

He then heard a chuckle from Marcus which then turned into a full on cackle. "I did it! I fuckin' did it! I killed Jol Min-Jun,  **Teh_Trumpotar**!" He then began to disrespect him by squatting down on  ** _Judgement's_**  corpse. A gesture known in the gaming community as 'tea-bagging'. Rin looked upon in horror.

After a minute or two Marcus stood up straight and glanced over towards Rin, who currently felt like a scared child as he hid behind the pillar again. Marcus reached by the pillar and pulled Rin out by the collar. "Now to deal with you." Rin began to curse himself. If only he had brought the Kurikara with him, he could have sliced him up in a few motions. "Look at this! All I need to do is return to that Michael guy with you and that corpse over there, and I'll be 37 million richer!" He gave out a hardy laugh.

Then, something that no one thought could've happened. A small, light purple beam pierced through the left side of Marcus' chest.

"What!?" Rin and Marcus both said surprised. They looked behind them to see  ** _Judgement_**  standing straight up making a finger gun at Marcus.

"I killed you!" Marcus said stumbling from the attack.

"Well, you did ruin my favorite hoodie!"  ** _Judgement_**  put his hand underneath his hoodie. "And next time, check to see that someone doesn't have any improvised armor under their clothes." He then pulled out a slim sheet of metal, which was large enough to cover his back, that had indents from the buckshot. "You didn't think I didn't notice you? I'd say you'd stick out like a sore thumb, but then a sore thumb would be harder to find than you."

Marcus dropped Rin and backed up against the front door. Scared of his life long rival. Then for some reason  ** _Judgement_**  took off his hoodie and the shirt underneath. and on the back, there was a tattoo of an angel blowing a trumpet. Rin assumed that this was a reference to his gamer tag.

" ** _Fool_** , I want you to listen up real clearly. And this advise is coming from Teh_Trumpotar, so you better listen."  ** _Judgement_**  looked over at Rin with a serious glare on his face. "You aren't fighting monsters that hide under a children's bed anymore. These are REAL PEOPLE. And I suggest you get used to the fact that your going to be harming, even killing, REAL PEOPLE."  ** _Judgement_**  then glared at Marcus who was trying to stand up.

"Because if you don't, then you'll never be able to save your friend!"


	7. The Empress and The Gunman Part IV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just as Joseph and Empress arrive at the hotel, Judgment finishes off Marcus.

Kuro had finally opened up the door from Rin's hotel room to the hallway. He was scared that someone might have taken him, so he decided to set out and search for him. Though he didn't know where to go. He began to walk down the light yellow painted hallway trying to look for any evidence of where his master could've gone.

Just a few doors down from where he was, a door to his right opened up and Kuro froze. The dark skinned man who Rin was traveling with the one named  ** _Magician_**  walked out with a smile on his face and then suddenly looked at Kuro. "Hey, there little guy. You're that demon cat that  ** _Fool_**  brought with him." Kuro didn't like how they called Rin  ** _Fool_**. He always felt that even though it was his codename, they were secretly insulting them. "I think he's downstairs eating breakfast. Let's go together!"

Kuro decided to jump onto  ** _Magician_** 's arm to travel with him. "But first, I should probably wake up  ** _Moon_**."  ** _Magician_**  walked over to a door across from his room and knocked on it. "Yo! You gonna eat some food?" He asked from behind the door. Nemu opened the door to stare  ** _Magician_**  right in the face.

Nemu began to open and close the mouth of the puppet he was holding. "I'll eat when I feel like it. So leave me alone…"  ** _Magician_**  could hear the sound of the TV in his room and became curious about what he was watching. So he barged in pushing Nemu out of the way.

**_Magician_**  looked at the TV screen as it showed what seemed like a news report that showed a video filmed from a helicopter of the Great Wall of China. Even though he couldn't understand what they were saying,  ** _Magician_**  leaned in closer to the TV as he thought that something was suspicious. Kuro was looking at him in a curious way.

"Oh my god…" He said with his eyes bulging.

~~~|X|~~~

As Marcus was standing still in utter shock.  ** _Judgment_**  was stretching out his limbs "Hey  ** _Fool_** , let's make a bet. If I beat this guy in under a minute, you need have to tell me about those blue flames yesterday."

Rin was confused as to why he would make a bet after almost dying. "Um… I guess we-" just before Rin could finish his sentence,  ** _Judgement_**  had taken out a timer, clicked it, and threw it in the air.

He then began to dash towards Marcus, who then tried to regain his composure and open his stomach and began to fire his chain gun again.  ** _Judgment_**  began to bob and weave past the hail of bullets. A blade of energy began to surround his arm as he jumped in front of Marcus and with a single slice cut off the chain gun seamlessly.

**_Judgment_**  jumped back a meter or two and charged up two spheres of energy on his fingertips. "DYNE MACHINE GUN!" He shouted as two beams were fired from his fingertips. Piercing Marcus so fast that it was like he was being shot by a machine gun.

Marcus then collapsed on the floor, dead.  ** _Judgment_**  reached his hand into the air and grabbed the timer he threw up and clicked it again, stopping it. "Twenty-three seconds huh? I even impress myself sometimes."

Rin just stared at his ally. He'd never seen a fight as impressive as what he just saw, not even in any manga he's read.

"Hey,"  ** _Judgment_**  said to Rin, snapping him out of his trance. "You alright?"

Rin nodded simply as the two sat down on a cushioned bench. "So, do you still play video games?" Rin asked him.

"Of course, you idiot. What did you think I gave up video games?" Rin nodded slowly unsure if he should have answered the question. "I'd never give up a passion, especially if it's something I've dedicated my entire life to. Gaming has defined my childhood and getting rid of that would be like getting rid of my childhood, and oh my god WILL YOU JUST STAY DEAD ALREADY!"  ** _Judgment_**  shouted as Marcus stood up clutching his nearly fatal wounds.

"D-damn you Jol." he sputtered out with blood drooling from his lips "That installment cost me thousands! And you're gonna pay with your-" Suddenly right as Marcus pointed at  ** _Judgment_**  and just stopped right in his tracks.

Rin was wondering what had just happened but  ** _Judgment_**  wasn't fazed by Marcus' sudden freeze and was suddenly picked up by a group of men in shades and taken away. Rin and  ** _Judgment_**  were then face to face with Joseph and  ** _Empress_**. "It's about time you got here. I was standing in the Lobby for a few hours. I even got in trouble with the hotel staff for sleeping on one of the benches." Joseph gave a simple shrug in response.

All Rin could do was to just stare at the now frozen Marcus as he was carried away. "W-what just happened to him?" he asked the rest.

"That, my little  ** _Fool_** , is my ability," Empress said to him. "I am  ** _The Empress_** , and my power is control over an individuals flow of time." She then bowed to the newest Tarot member.

_Tarot: The Empress_

_Ability: Selective Chronoprohiberis_

"You can stop time?" Rin asked his superior.

"Only for individuals and objects. I can't freeze time for the entire world." Rin nodded, understanding this limit of her powers.

Joseph clapped his hands. "Now, once we get to the palace, we have a lot to discuss about our situ-" Just before Joseph could finish the four could hear  ** _Magician_** 's voice shouting for their boss.

"Boss! I've got some bad new- what the hell happened here!?" He stopped to look at the damage from  ** _Judgment_**  and Marcus' battle with Nemu walking behind him and Kuro on his shoulder.

"No time. You said you have bad news. Spill it."  ** _Judgment_**  said to  ** _Magician_**.

"Oh right. it's about  ** _Tower_** , he's being held hostage at the Great Wall of China!" A collective gasp from most of the Tarot members filled the room.


	8. Arc Intermission (travel) I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group gets prepared to travel to The Great Wall to save Tower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a little gimmick that I'm trying to implement in this story. In between arcs, I will put an intermission as a way for the characters to discuss certain events that recently happen. These will fall into a couple of different types:
> 
> Travel: What happens between the time when Rin and the group travel to another location.
> 
> Izumo's Mind: What's happening to Izumo's subconscious as the mask is taking her over.
> 
> Cell: What is going on with Tamamo while she is locked up in Fort Sumter.
> 
> Possibly a fourth one later on, but that's a spoiler.

**_Chapter 8: Arc Intermission (Travel) I_ **

“Are you sure it was  ** _Tower_**?”  ** _Judgment_**  asked  ** _Magician_**  with a slight touch of concern in his voice;  ** _Magician_**  nodded in response. Rin immediately concluded that  ** _Tower_**  was another member of Tarot, though he wasn’t as panicked as the rest of them seeing as how he just joined yesterday. “Isn’t he stationed in Australia? What’s he doing here in China?” The group began to speculate for a short while…

“It may be that the Illuminati wants to get our attention,”  ** _Empress_**  suggested.

“There’s no time for speculation, we need to get a move on to the Great Wall.” Joseph told the group as he ran outside into the helicopter.

As the rest of the group chased after him, Rin shouted heading towards the direction of the elevators. “Just hold on for a second!” He shouted “I have to get my-” A personal guard for  ** _Empress_**  handed Rin the bag that carried the Kurikara right as he finished his sentence. “sword…” he grabbed the bag and then headed over towards the rest of the group.

~~~|X|~~~

 ** _Empress_**  had provided breakfast on the helicopter ride over, causing both  ** _Judgment_**  and  ** _Magician_**  to begin scarfing down the eggs and bacon instantly while Nemu took small bites of a stack of pancakes and Joseph sipped from a cup of coffee. Rin wanted to eat but he had something to get off his chest; he did make a bet with  ** _Judgment_**  after all.

Rin coughed to try and get their attention “Everyone. I have something I have- no, NEED to tell you all.” They all looked at him questionably. “As both  ** _Magician_**  and  ** _Judgment_**  may know, I have this unique power to summon blue fire at will. That’s because I’m the son of Satan.” Rin was prepared for the worst, he was prepared to be treated like how his classmates used to treat him. Fearing him and rejecting him from their group.

 ** _Magician_**  gave a confused look and turned towards  ** _Judgment_**  who responded: “He said he’s the son of Satan.” It took a few seconds for him to register what he just heard.

“That’s cool. Hey, are you gonna eat that bagel?” Rin was shocked and confused at what  ** _Magician_**  just said, and rightfully so. When his classmates found out, they were either afraid, angry or both. Except for Izumo. He needed to bring this curiosity up. “Aren’t you guys afraid of me or something?”

 ** _Judgment_** ,  ** _Empress_** , and Joseph simply looked at him with stern looks. “Should we?” Rin was flabbergasted. “Look, dude. First, I have the ability to shoot purple lasers out of my fingers, palms, mouth, and god knows where else. Second, we just found out that demons exist YESTERDAY so we’re still trying to get a hold of that.”  ** _Judgment_**  said as he looked at Kuro. “And finally, in this helicopter, we have a Korean, a Chinese, an African-American, and an Englishman. Tarot is already diverse enough as it is.”

What  ** _Judgment_**  had said recently had brought up a point that Rin never had thought of before “That reminds me if you all are from different countries then how come you can understand each other. How can I understand you?”

 ** _Judgment_**  signaled Joseph to answer his question. “Oh Yeah! A few weeks ago I snuck into your dorm room and put a little device in your ear called a Babel Fish. It translates anything you hear from another language into your native language. It also lets you talk in another language to someone who doesn’t have a babel fish.” Rin then began to put a finger in his ear when Joseph stopped him. “Don’t bother trying to fish it out, it’s already latched onto your brain.”

Rin then began to sit back in his seat trying to take in all the information that was just dumped on him. “Hey boss, speaking of which. I think mine’s malfunctioning because I could hear  ** _Moon_**  earlier this morning, but I couldn’t hear what  ** _Fool_**  just said.”  ** _Magician_**  said swallowing the last of his food.

“I’ll fix it once we get back onto the road again. But right now, we’ve got an ally to save.” Joseph told him as he looked out the window to see The Great Wall of China just ahead of the chopper.


	9. Wall Battle Part I

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first official battle between Tarot and The Illuminati begins.

_Great Wall of China_

_November 3_ _rd_ _20XX_

_12:39 PM_

"Nothing yet ma'am." One of the Illuminati scouts shouted towards Homare who stood in front of a "captured" member of Tarot titled  ** _Tower_**. The man had black hair with streaks of green and wore a grunge coat with a decal of a broken tower on the back along with torn up jeans and a pair of dark brown tennis shoes that had been completely worn out.

"How confident are you that your commander will come to save you?"  ** _Tower_**  chuckled at the Illuminati member's curiosity.

"Oh hell yes! He never leaves a man behind, especially if they're a P.O.W. One thing I'm surprised about is why is the captain of Phosphorus out on the field instead of protecting her commander?"  ** _Tower_**  raised an eyebrow at Homare in suspicion and the Adeptus Major simply scoffed at him.

She knew that she wasn't supposed to be on this job. Everyone knew that. The only reason why is that the person who would've been assigned this job was… busy… now. Also, someone needed to watch a pink-haired punk to make sure that he didn't touch Michael's subject for his 'experiment'.

"I've gotta hand it to ya." Speak of the devil. Shima, along with Izumo, was just returning from scouting his area of the wall (either that or he was just coming to talk to the 'hostage') "Betraying your own employer just for a small amount of money. I mean it wasn't even a million." Shima started to laugh "Oh my god, it's hilarious what people can do for money."

"I have my motives, and you all have yours." In truth,  ** _Tower_**  hated everyone in Tarot. When Joseph came to him to become a part of Tarot, he only agreed due to the amount he was being paid, but when he met various other members he quickly felt that the paycheck wasn't worth it.

Homare checked the watch on her wrist.  ** _Tower_** 's boss still hasn't arrived and she began to tap her foot in impatience "We don't have time for this." Homare turned around to look at the traitor. "If I find out that you've been pulling out leg the entire time; then I will-" Suddenly she was cut off by the yells of one of her men getting shot to death by what seemed to be a machine gun. She looked towards the direction of the bullets and saw a military helicopter flying towards their location.

"See, what did I tell ya?"  ** _Tower_** 's mouth had grown a shit-eating grin that seemed to just piss off the Adeptus Major even more.

~~~|X|~~~

"Direct Hit!" Joseph exclaimed as the Illuminati member fell on the ground dead. He then turned away from the cockpit glass towards the group to address their plan of attack.

"Alright, listen up! This is both  ** _Fool_**  and  ** _Moon_** 's first real fight with the Illuminati, so we need to be careful." He started " ** _Judgement_**  and  ** _Magician_** , you two will take care of Pink-hair.  ** _Fool_**  and  ** _Moon_** , you two go after your friend. The one in the mask. Empress and I will head straight through them to get to  ** _Tower_**."

Everyone nodded in confirmation however Rin's hands were starting to get sweaty. He didn't think he could try to harm Izumo, even if she was brainwashed by the enemy. He then took the Kurikara out of the bag and put the sheath in one of his belt holders so that he had easy access to it.

Rin then looked at the others.  ** _Judgment_**  had just lighted a cigarette and let out a puff of smoke.  ** _Magician_**  had a metal brace around each of his arms so that he had quick access to his ability. Nemu didn't seem to prepare at all, it's like he wasn't even worried.  ** _Empress_**  had just finished a cup of tea and had wiped her lips with a napkin

As the helicopter got closer to the wall, the group stood in front of the door prepared to jump off it. "Alright, everyone. Let's go!" Joseph shouted as the helicopter's door opened revealing The Great Wall's walkway and at the end was a bunch of Illuminati soldiers.

Joseph was the first one to jump off. Followed by  ** _Judgment_**  then  ** _Magician_** ,  ** _Empress_** , Nemu, and Rin.

"Well, well, well, about time you guys showed up!"  ** _Tower_**  yelled at them.

Joseph simply sighed and then walked forward in front of the group to address their adversaries. "Listen up! I think you have something of my subordinate's" He pointed to Izumo. "Just let her go, and we won't have to kill anyone else." This apparently triggered both Shima and Izumo to attack Joseph. The Illuminati's spy raised his K'rik up swung it down onto his head.

**_Clang!_ **

The swing was quickly blocked by  ** _Magician_**  who had made an improvisational shield with one of his bracers. This had slightly stunned Shima causing him to recoil and  ** _Judgment_**  jumped over  ** _Magician_**  and to fire a purple barrage of lasers to cause him to retreat.

 ** _Judgment_**  and Shima stood about a meter away from each other. Shima changed his grip on his weapon and began to make stabbing motions at  ** _Judgment_**  which were countered by him either dodging slightly or pushing it out of the way. Shima then went for an overhead swing and hit  ** _Judgment_**  so hard that you could see a little bit of blood left on the K'rik. This caused  ** _Judgment_**  to stagger a bit as Shima went for a sideways swing to break his ribs.

As Shima made the swing he noticed that something was wrong. His K'rik was… bending? He then looked behind him to see  ** _Magician_**  holding the end of the K'rik steady with one hand. "Hey next time you go up against us, use a wooden staff instead of a metal one." He said as  ** _Judgment_**  regained his bearings.  ** _Magician_**  then released his grip on the staff as it stretched around Shima,  ** _Judgment_**  ducked as it passed by him, and hit himself in the head with it.

"BOOYA!"  ** _Magician_**  shouted fist bumping the air as Shima fell on his back in pain from the "self-inflicted" wound on his head.  ** _Judgment_**  then looked at  ** _Magician_**  and notice a weird black flame on his arm. When  ** _Judgment_**  pointed this out to him,  ** _Magician_**  began to flail his arm around trying to put out the mysterious fire.

"What the hell is this stuff?!"  ** _Magician_**  stared at the fire as it continued to linger on his arm. Shima had begun to chuckle as the black flames began to surround him and began to stand up. Behind him was the image of a huge black monster with the head of an ox and four arms with five razor shop claws on each.

" **These two are new faces, I hope they put up a good fight!** " The giant demon let out a roar trying to startle  ** _Judgment_**  and  ** _Magician_**. Luckily, they weren't fazed by the monster as  ** _Judgment_**  gathered energy creating an orb.

"DYNE GRENADE!" He shouted launching it at the demon's face. Said demon then slammed the orb to the ground.

 ** _Magician_**  then jumped onto  ** _Judgment_** 's shoulders and threw himself onto the demon's ox head. His metal bracers went from his arms to his hands and transformed into gauntlets with nails on the knuckles and started to punch it.

"Eat titanium you Baphomet wannabe!" He shouted just before he was knocked off of his head by one of the demon's arms.

" **Pathetic, and here I was hoping for a challenge.** " The demon bellowed and scoffed at the two.

Shima then let out a large yawn either it was in honesty or just taunting  ** _Judgment_**  "Hey Yamantaka, do you think you can take care of these guys by yourself? I'm getting kind of tired."

 ** _Judgment_**  then gave a chuckle "You know, if I were you. I wouldn't be so careless around an enemy." He then gave a thumbs up with his arm pointing towards Shima. "After all, they might just be one step ahead of you."

Yamantaka then turned his head to see the same energy orb he slammed to the ground, but now there were dozens of them and they were all attached to his back. Before something could be done about their situation,  ** _Judgment_**  lowered his thumb and said "Detonate" causing a large explosion on Yamantaka's back from the Dyne Grenades.

As Yamantaka crumbled to the ground Shima stared in disbelief of what he just saw. "H-how did that happen!?" He exclaimed.

 ** _Magician_**  then dropped down next to  ** _Judgment_**  to say "While I provided a distraction, Judgment launched a bunch of those orbs in a smaller variant underneath your legs by flicking them with his index finger and thumb."

 ** _Judgment_**  then took over and began charging up two beams of energy in his hands. "Once they passed underneath your legs, I redirected them to attach to the demon's back." The two beams were then unleashed attacking Yamantaka's chest causing it to stagger.

Yamantaka then began to cackle as he recovered from the barrage of attacks. " **So you're more than just some amateur fighters. I hope you two can keep me entertained.** " The tip of Shima's K'rik began to emit the black flame transforming it into a spear of some kind. He then got into a battle stance pointing the flaming edge at the ground.

 ** _Magician_**  then cracked his knuckles and his neck. "Let's hope your master won't cheese out of this fight now because things are starting to get good!"


	10. Wall Battle Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight between Tarot and The Illuminati continues as Rin and Nemu face off against the Mind-Controlled Izumo

While Shima was squaring off against Judgment and Magician. Izumo was headed straight for Joseph to supposedly kill him. Rin quickly moved in front of Joseph to block an oncoming attack. Whatever the Illuminati did to Izumo turned her fingernails into something resembling claws that could cut through metal with enough force given to them.

He then pushed her back causing her to backflip and land on the ground 2 – 3 meters away from him. Rin slowly walked towards her as Nemu moved behind Izumo catching her in a pincer attack.

"Izumo? Can you hear me?" Rin tried to call out to her, but it was futile. She spun around with a pair of ceremonial fans open in each of her hands. Once she did a full spin, a single spike of ice appeared in front of her, facing towards Rin. Izumo then moved her hand a bit and caused the spike to be telekinetically hurled towards him.

Rin unsheathed the Kurikara and sliced through the icicle, causing it to split open and shatter behind him. "W-what the hell was that?" Rin just stared in awe at Izumo as she closed up the fans. Though the thought was racking Rin's brain he needed to push those thoughts out of his mind or else he will be caught dead.

He began to charge at Izumo and swung the Kurikara at her. She dodged the attack gracefully like she was performing a dance of some kind while fighting. After a few swings, Izumo blocked an overhead swing with one of her closed fans and then punched him in the face at an incredible speed.

Rin was knocked back a couple of feet. Though he wasn't knocked unconscious, he was hurt enough that Izumo began to ignore him and then dashed towards Nemu. Once Rin saw this, he had to act fast. He looked down to see Izumo's mysteriously grown fox-tails. Acting on instinct he grabbed one of the tails which caught Izumo off guard and made her trip and fall on the ground. Rin gave a simple smirk in response.

Izumo began to struggle as Rin wrapped his arms around almost all of the tails to make sure that Izumo wouldn't escape. "Moon! Try to see if you can take the mask off now!" Rin shouted; it seemed like Rin didn't even have to tell him, as he was already crouched in front of her and was about to put his hand on the mask.

However, once Nemu's fingers touched Izumo's mask and electric shock filled his body. Izumo then punched Nemu causing him to fly backward. She then waved her tails in a motion like a whip to throw Rin off her. Once she stood up, she opened her fans and faced towards Rin. She then made a hemisphere motion with both of her hands to create a cross of fire on the ground and caused it to move towards Rin. He then quickly jumped over it because he did not want to see what the cross when someone stood on it.

'Not only does she have control over ice, but control over fire as well?' Rin thought to himself. 'What's happened to her?'

Once Rin and Nemu got back in a pincer formation. Izumo looked at the two of them then raised her two fans at chest level. Izumo then began to perform a dance, one that someone would see a traditional shrine maiden use. The two noticed that every movement of her arms caused some cherry blossom petals to form from the movement. Though they didn't fall to the ground. They simply just stayed in the air.

As more and more cherry blossoms began to form, both Rin and Nemu prepared themselves for a supposed attack. Rin got into a defensive stance and Nemu summoned a life-sized knight doll with an extremely large shield, which wasted no time in using the said shield to protect Nemu. After about 1 minute of Izumo performing her dance. She crossed her arms, raised them and swung them down.

That was when hell began.

The cherry blossoms zoomed towards them at an incredible speed. While Nemu was protected from the knight's shield, Rin was not so Lucky. The cherry blossoms were razor-sharp causing them to leave little cuts in his clothing and graze past his arms and legs.

After the volley directed at Rin ceased, he fell back on his butt in exhaustion. It was like Izumo was aiming for him and wasn't at the same time. It completely confused Rin. When he looked back at Izumo he saw that Shima was standing by her side.

"What do you think? That's sort of like her special move." He told Rin. "Thanks to that serum we gave her. Now she has all of these badass abilities."

Rin just stared at the two. He and the other Tarot members had their suspicions before, but now it was confirmed. Izumo Kamiki is the host for The Lovers Arcana Serum.

Tarot: The Lovers

Ability: Elementumkinesis evoked through Dance

Rin began to stand up. He began to stagger due to the wounds from Izumo's "petal attack" Shima then dashed towards him and prepared to stab Rin with his k'rik which had a spear-like tip but then his hand was blasted with a purple laser causing him to drop the weapon.

Both Rin and Shima looked in the direction of the laser, Judgment was pointing a finger gun at Shima as the energy from his fingertips begun to disperse. "Hey! We aren't done with you, get back here!" Judgment began to chase Shima, closely followed by Magician.

Izumo began to wave the fans to create two powerful windstorms to try to push Rin backward. To counteract this attack, Rin used the blue flames to propel himself faster than the winds could push him back. Rin was now directly in front of Izumo and wanted to try to pull Izumo's mask off, not learning from the attempt that Nemu made on the mask. Suddenly, a yellow spark was emitted when Rin laid one of his fingers on the mask causing Izumo to fly behind Nemu and crashing into the stone brick tower leaving an impact.

Rin was astonished, all he could do was just stare at his hand. What kind of power was that? It was indescribable. Rin then looked towards Izumo, seeing that she wasn't currently moving. His eyes went wide wondering if he had killed her by accident. Thankfully, Izumo began to stand up giving Rin a small bit of relief.

Rin and Nemu had backed Izumo into a corner until she made a spin and surrounded herself with light particles and suddenly vanished. Rin had begun to look around in a panic.

While Magician was distracting Shima, Judgment strafed behind him and shot a multitude of lasers which had a spread of a shotgun. Suddenly, a bright light appeared right behind Shima blinding Judgment and making him accidentally redirect his shot into the air. "Augh! This is just like the flashbang all over again!" Judgment shouted as he covered his eyes. Once the light faded Izumo was standing back to back with Shima. She then roundhouse kicked Judgment in the face and knocked him off the side of the Great Wall!

"Judgment!" Rin and Magician shouted out in a panic. As the only thing Rin could do was stare over the edge in shock, Magician acted as quick as he could. He used his Ferrokinesis to turn his brace into a piece of metal string, he then tossed it over the edge and wrapped it around Judgment's arm to catch him. The metal string then wrapped itself around Magician's arm to turn it back to the brace from before as it was reeling Judgment back up.

"That is the second time I've almost died today." Judgment said climbing back onto the top of the brick wall "Good lord, I just cannot get a break with this fight." He was currently gasping for air as the three ran over to check on him. However, Shima and Izumo both got into a combat stance. Just fighting against one was tough enough, now they have to fight them both at the same time!? The four just hoped that this battle would end soon.


End file.
